"Use religion for such a purpose! Why, we should be more criminal than Flore." This conversation took place at breakfast,--Francois and Baruch listening with all their ears.
"Sacrilege!" exclaimed old Hochon.

"If some good abbe, keen as I have known many of them to be, knew what a dilemma you are in, he would not think it sacrilege to bring your brother's lost soul back to God, and call him to repentance for his sins, by forcing him to send away the woman who causes the scandal (with a proper provision, of course), and showing him how to set his conscience at rest by giving a few thousand francs a year to the seminary of the archbishop and leaving his property to the rightful heirs." The passive obedience which the old miser had always exacted from his children, and now from his grandchildren (who were under his guardianship and for whom he was amassing a small fortune, doing for them, he said, just as he would for himself), prevented Baruch and Francois from showing signs of surprise or disapproval; but they exchanged significant glances expressing how dangerous and fatal such a scheme would be to Max's interest.
"The fact is, madame," said Baruch, "that if you want to secure your brother's property, the only sure and true way will be to stay in Issoudun for the necessary length of time--" "Mother," said Joseph hastily, "you had better write to Desroches about all this.

As for me, I ask nothing more than what my uncle has already given me." After fully recognizing the great value of his thirty-nine pictures, Joseph had carefully unnailed the canvases and fastened paper over them, gumming it at the edges with ordinary glue; he then laid them one above another in an enormous wooden box, which he sent to Desroches by the carrier's waggon, proposing to write him a letter about it by post.

The precious freight had been sent off the night before.
"You are satisfied with a pretty poor bargain," said Monsieur Hochon.
"I can easily get a hundred and fifty thousand francs for those pictures," replied Joseph.
"Painter's nonsense!" exclaimed old Hochon, giving Joseph a peculiar look.
"Mother," said Joseph, "I am going to write to Desroches and explain to him the state of things here.

If he advises you to remain, you had better do so.